It’s February, which means we’re one month closer to spring. Woo hoo! Is it just me, or has the fall/winter stretch seemed especially long this year? Maybe it’s just because I’m antsy for asparagus and snap peas and watercress. Oh asparagus, I have plans for you. Delicious plans!
Here’s what I ate this week:
Sun-Dried Tomato & Arugula Tartines from Vegetarian Times // My amazing, wonderful husband made these for lunch this week. (The secret ingredient was love.) They consist of crusty bread topped with a sun-dried tomato spread, basil, arugula, kalamata olives, and Gruyere cheese. Clearly there was no way these wouldn’t be absolutely delicious, right?
Pineapple! // I never buy whole pineapples like this and now I know why. They are a pain to deal with! From now on, I’m sticking with my pre-cut pineapples.
Pineapple Fruit Leather (but not really) // And then I pureed some of the pineapple and attempted to make fruit leather with it. I baked it at 175 degrees for several hours as I usually do with fruit leather, but for some reason, it went from wet to crispy, skipping the leathery stage entirely. It was actually really good crispy, though. Like a delicious pineapple flavored chip. So it all worked out in the end. (Oh, and this photo was before baking, in case you were wondering.)
Corn & Kale Chowder from Whole Foods // I added a little chipotle salt to this because it seemed to be missing something and after that, it was really tasty. I tend to avoid the prepared food section at Whole Foods (so expensive!), but I needed a quick lunch and this was perfect.
Caramelized Shallot & Gruyere Quiche With Rosemary Crust from Food For My Family // I cheated and used an olive oil pie crust for this and used 2% milk instead of cream, but this still turned out perfect. Well, okay, it’s a little bit overcooked, but that’s my fault for going back upstairs to work while this was in the oven–I couldn’t hear the timer when it went off. Still perfect! I’m picky about quiche because I’m not a big fan of eggs, but this one wasn’t too eggy.
Tandoor Chef Margherita Naan Pizza // Do you ever buy these? They are so good! They’re always on sale too, so we stock up when they are. I try to make something that I can have for lunch during the week, like a soup or salad, but this week I was a slacker and ended up eating frozen and prepared stuff.
Satsumas // Satsumas! Buy some! They are dirt cheap at Whole Foods right now. I like these more than clementines–I think they’re sweeter and they peel more easily. I love dipping them in chocolate too.
Curried Cabbage from New South Food Company // AKA the recipe that convinced my husband to eat cabbage. This makes a BIG pot of cabbage so we had leftovers for lunch the next day. This would be a great addition to a bowl of tofu and rice or quinoa!
Maple Miso Tofu from The Hot Plate // Okay, if you make this recipe (and you should make this recipe!), either double the tofu or make half the amount of sauce. I had way more sauce than I needed. But this was delicious. Baking is definitely my favorite way to prepare tofu–the sauce gets concentrated, the tofu gets chewier. Wonderful things happen when you bake tofu.
Dark Chocolate Banana Breakfast Muffins // I’ve been having muffins for breakfast a lot lately and I decided to make one of my own recipes this week. I love this recipe because the muffins taste pretty rich, but they’re made with whole wheat flour, Greek yogurt, and oats. As usual, I made them, froze them, and microwaved them every morning. It’s like having a freshly baked muffin for breakfast!
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Thanks Kiersten! Great post as always
I loved the pineapple fruit leather. I never used to buy whole pineapples either but then I was given this crazy little gadget that peels, de-cores and slices the entire pineapple! Amazing!
I think I need one of those gadgets too!
Oh my! As ever and always one whopping YUM!
Do you have any of your recipes for fruit leather posted? Would love to try to make this.
Yes! I have three different recipes:
Banana Fruit Leather
Strawberry Banana Fruit Leather
Raspberry Peach Fruit Leather
It’s way easier than most people think it is.
And you don’t need a dehydrator either!
I love miso soup and I love maple but have never tried them together. Thanks for the thought!
I love miso glazed tofu! I often make it in slices like that and use the slices in sandwiches. Yum! Those tartines look amazing as well. Thanks for sharing, this list is always so inspiring!
Yeah, next time I make this recipe, I think I’m going to make it into sandwiches. Tofu sandwiches are never not good.
What a week of eating!!! It all looks so good! Can I come spend next week with you? I clean up the kitchen.
Ha! I’m sure the meals you make are equally delicious!
oh those muffins, that tofu and the naan pizza yumm.. i ate a lot of sandwiches this week:)
Made the tofu last night about six hours after discovering your blog.
It never got crispy, though. We recently moved to a new apartment and I hadn’t tried the oven’s broiler yet, so I set the rack one notch lower than the highest one. Think that might be the problem?
That could be it. And I think sometimes broilers are just temperamental–I’ve had some where you couldn’t leave something for 2 minutes without it burning and others where 10 minutes later, food wouldn’t even be browned yet. I don’t know why that is! Next time, I’d probably just put the rack higher and see how that works…
I absolutely must make that tofu. I’ve had less than stellar luck with tofu lately, and like the pouty kid who crosses their arms and declares a standoff when they don’t get what they want, I’ve been ignoring the containers lounging in the freezer, waiting for some inspiration.
Ha! Well, I don’t think you can fail with this recipe. Except for the fact that it makes too much sauce, but hey, that’s a bonus! I froze the leftovers and I’m actually making this tofu again for dinner tonight, in sandwich form.
The recipe, unfortunately, for the maple miso tofu is no longer available.
Oh, that is so weird! I wonder why they took it down. Well, I did find the recipe on ZipList: http://www.ziplist.com/recipes/1261468-Maple_Miso_Tofu. The ingredients are there, but not the instructions. I don’t remember them exactly, but I think you spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, place pressed & dried tofu slabs onto it, and then brush them with the sauce. Broil them for maybe 5 minutes, then flip them over, brush with more sauce, and broil for another 5 minutes. If you use the sesame seeds, sprinkle them on after the tofu is done baking.
Thanks!
I haven’t heard of Satsumas but clementines have been finding their way to my kitchen for a couple of months now. The whole family loves them!
Cute Rilakkuma bowl!
With pineapple, I’ve had the most luck with a bread knife and using this guide: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Chunk-a-Pineapple-Like-a-South-Seas-Island-/
Thank you for the link! I need all the help I can get.
That tofu looks amazing! It’s definitely going to the top of my to-make list – hopefully will make it on the dinner menu by weeks end!
I have a recipe for chickpea tofu. You make it with chickpea flour and water, and it’s AMAZING. Tastes way better than the store bought (GMO) stuff!
Very cool! The tofu I buy isn’t GMO, though–Nasoya is GMO-free.